windbreak. How to make one

[Deleted User]

My new allotment is on an extremely windy plot, bristol channel and atlantic winds and it is on a hill. My broccolli plants are suffering and so will everything else that I want to grow in the future. It is too narrow, 10 feet, for anything living or for big permanent posts. Have you any ideas? I gather that 1m high would be ideal

emiff6

How about planting Jerusalem artichokes all round the edge? They look like sunflowers, have yellow flowers, and their roots take up surprisingly little space. They grow 8 or 9 ft tall but you can pinch out the tips at the height you want. They'll come up every yr, and if they get too thick you can dig up the roots and eat them.

realfood

Try windbreak fabric attached to timber posts, or wooden pallets attached to timber posts.

Mojisola

Don't use anything solid. A solid barrier will create turbulence behind it and can cause more damage to your plants.

You want something that will allow about half the wind through. How pretty you want it to be depends on you. realfood's suggestions are good - pallets will reduce the wind without causing turbulence. If you paint them all the same colour they don't look too bad. Windbreak fabric will probably look better but will cost more.

[Deleted User]

Thank you. I guess there are no shortcuts, I was even looking at electric fencing posts as they just need banging in but my dh says that they will fall over. I guess I will go with wooden posts and a length at a time, although I will probably buy a roll of the fabric. I might even look at debris netting. It was the thought of lugging the concrete up there but maybe the readymix stuff as there is water

rhiwfield

FWIW we have used a narrow raised bed (about 1' deep) with a trellis along the back attached to 4' x 4' posts. The bed contains our autumn raspberries.

Not the cheapest solution but works well, takes up very little space and looks attractive

BexInLondon

rhiwfield wrote: »

FWIW we have used a narrow raised bed (about 1' deep) with a trellis along the back attached to 4' x 4' posts. The bed contains our autumn raspberries.

Not the cheapest solution but works well, takes up very little space and looks attractive

Dose the trellis work then, as a windbreak I mean?

I'll be watching this thread with interest as I have a very windy terrace!

OP - something I have discovered from my own battered 'garden' is that plants need very early exposure to the wind as it helps them build strong stems. I get the seedlings out as early as I can, and this has made a real difference to wind-hardiness! So far I've grown tomatoes, broad beans and lots of different herbs and they've all been fine with massive strong stems.

Mojisola

Trellis would be good - it will break the force of the wind. If you're just going to put in the trellis, choose a fairly dense one. You can use a more open one if you're going to follow rhiwfield's good idea of having raspberries in front of them.

If you can get the posts in reasonably deeply, you may not need to concrete them in. If they do get a bit loose, you can firm them in as needed.

angelavdavis

I have noticed some plotholders at my allotment use fabric similar to this, with poles for windbreak:

http://www.gardening-naturally.com/acatalog/Windbreak_Shade_Netting.html

I have rooted a black elderflower so I could grow this quickly to plug a gap which is a windtrap. It won't do a lot this year so I will have to put up an additional barrier, but hopefully it should grow larger to offer shelter over winter. My plot is also overlooking the sea.